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Tag: Kenneth Fuchs

Canticle to St. Francis

As an animal lover, I’ve always had a soft spot for St. Francis of Assisi. (Also, I was fortunate enough to visit his hometown before the devastating earthquakes of 1997.)

Today is Saint Francis’ feast day. This is a saint who was never too busy to chat with the birds or to befriend a wolf. He introduced the crèche to Christmas, complete with livestock. He even lobbied for a special law so that people would provide for the birds and the beasts. How could you not love this guy?

Regardless of one’s creed, no one, I should think, would take umbrage at the idea of love and respect for the natural world. Take a moment today to be kind to the animals. Hug your pet. Water the birds. Let a cricket out of the house. Bless all animals! Then enjoy some of the music below, only a fraction of the music inspired by St. Francis.

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Franz Liszt’s “Saint Francis of Assisi Preaching to the Birds” (piano)

Liszt’s “Saint Francis of Assisi Preaching to the Birds” (orchestra)

Francis Poulenc’s “Quatre petites prières de saint François d’Assise”

Paul Hindemith’s “Nobilissima Visione” (suite, conducted by the composer)

Hindemith’s “Nobilissima Visione” (rarely-heard complete version)

Leo Sowerby’s “Canticle of the Sun” (1946 Pulitzer Prize winner)

Kenneth Fuchs’ “Canticle to the Sun” for French horn and orchestra

More about the 1997 quake that damaged Assisi’s St. Francis Basilica

https://www.italyonthisday.com/2017/09/st-francis-basilica-struck-by-earthquake.html

October 4, 2026
Thomas Stacy Acclaimed English Hornist Dies

“The Heifetz of the English horn” has died. Thomas Stacy was a member of the New York Philharmonic from 1972 to 2011. He was a featured soloist with the orchestra more than 70 times. He also appeared as guest soloist with many other ensembles.

More than 30 new works were written specifically for him. He was the most-recorded English hornist in the world. In 2005, he was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist for his recording of Kenneth Fuchs’ Concerto for English Horn, “Eventide.”

Stacy was also a virtuoso on the oboe d’amore. His final performances as a soloist with the Philharmonic were during the orchestra’s 2008-09 season, in an oboe d’amore concerto by Georg Philipp Telemann.

Growing up in Augusta, Arkansas – population 3000 – he listened to the New York Philharmonic Sunday afternoon radio broadcasts with his mother, a church organist. He sold his motorcycle in junior high school to buy his first English horn.

Leonard Bernstein characterized Stacy as “a poet among craftsmen.” Stacy died on April 30. He was 84 years-old.

Sibelius, “The Swan of Tuonela”

Copland, “Quiet City”

Dvorak, “New World” Symphony (video)

Kenneth Fuchs, “Eventide”

May 3, 2023
Solar Eclipse Classical Music Playlist

If anything, once we’ve all damaged our retinas trying to view today’s solar eclipse, we’ll have developed a heightened appreciation for our remaining, unimpaired sense of hearing. Bask in the warm afterglow of today’s syzygy by joining me on The Classical Network for a playlist curated from a wide repertoire of works inspired by the sun, the moon, and the heavens.

Highlights will include “Hymn to the Sun” from Pietro Mascagni’s opera “Iris,” ballet music from Jacques Offenbach’s operetta “Voyage to the Moon,” Kenneth Fuchs’ horn concerto, “Canticle to the Sun,” reflective of St. Francis of Assisi’s appreciation of Brother Sun and Sister Moon, and George Frideric Handel’s “Total Eclipse” from the oratorio “Samson.” There will also be musical responses to the mythological figures of Apollo (the sun god), Helios (the personification of the sun), and Phaeton (Helios’ son, ill-equipped to handle his father’s blazing chariot).

Make us the bright spot of your day, as we celebrate the eclipse, from 4 to 7 pm EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

August 21, 2017

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